Avoid a rogue tradie

The State Government has launched a new campaign to warn South Australians about rogue tradespeople charging excessively for unnecessary work. 

There has been a sharp spike in the number of complaints received from South Australians over the past few months with hundreds more complaints received than usual.

Consumer and Business Services reports investigating a significant number of complaints from people being charged excessive amounts and reporting shoddy work. 

The red flags to look for when hiring a tradesperson include:

• Seek advice from at least three different tradespeople, about the tasks you want done
• Request quotes - ideally get three quotes for the work before deciding which tradie to hire, and make sure the quotes are itemised and fixed. (Try and do this even if the situation seems urgent)
• Know who to call -_ Some companies trade under many different names so you might think you’re requesting quotes from three different businesses, but they could all be the same company or owned by the same company.

The simplest way to check who you’re really dealing with is by noting their licence number and searching the CBS licensing register to see which business or trading names are connected with that licence.

By law, every builder and tradesperson must display their licence number on any advertising including on social media, their website and business card.

Make sure you only deal with someone who is licensed to do the kind of work you need done.

Anyone working without a licence - or outside of what their licence allows them to do – is breaking the law and their work could be substandard.

You can check if a tradesperson is licensed by:

• Asking to see their digital licence on their phone or tablet
• Checking their plastic licence card
• Looking up their licence details on the CBS licensing register
• Phoning Consumer and Business Services (CBS) on 131 882.

It’s a good idea to search online for independent reviews about a tradesperson and also ask friends and family for recommendations.

Just because someone has the cheapest call out fee, don’t assume they will be the cheapest to do the job and agree on the spot.

Always take the time to compare the quotes from different businesses.

Make sure everyone who provides a quote is licensed and do independent research about the business.

There have been many reports over the years of door-to-door traders taking money upfront, doing a poor-quality job and then disappearing.

Anyone going door-to-door is an immediate red flag and under consumer law, there needs to be a written contract and a 10-day cooling off period.

Don’t pay too much in advance to a tradesperson.

If the business closes you might lose the money you have already paid to them.

For smaller jobs, tradies usually only require payment at the end of the job.

For bigger jobs, a maximum 10% deposit is recommended.

For more information about the campaign visit: Beware rogue tradespeople | Consumer and Business Services